Ellis Simon Hillman (17 November 1928 – 21 January 1996) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician, local councillor, Mayor of the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest ...

(1994–95) and polytechnic history lecturer. Hillman was born into a political family, related both to American labour leader

Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...

and

Chaim Herzog Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and ...

, sixth president of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He was recruited to the Revolutionary Communist Party by Annie Roy in 1946 and joined its Kilburn branch. During this period he wrote to

Natalia Sedova Natalia Ivanovna Sedova (russian: Ната́лья Ива́новна Седо́ва; 5 April 1882 Romny, Russian Empire – 23 January 1962, Corbeil-Essonnes, Paris, France) is best known as the second wife of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutio ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

's widow, about questions relating to the Soviet Union and the history of the

Left Opposition The Left Opposition was a faction within the Russian Communist Party (b) from 1923 to 1927 headed ''de facto'' by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet fou ...

. He became a critical member of the

Socialist Review Group The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a far-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Socialist Review Group by supporters of Tony Cliff in 1950, it became the International Socialists in 1962 and the SWP in 1977. The party con ...

where he produced a document, ''The Nature of the Stalinist Parties'', which was rejected by the group and replied to by

Duncan Hallas Duncan Hallas (23 December 1925 – 19 September 2002), was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Great Britain. Biography Born into a working-class family in Manchester, Duncan Hall ...

. This followed by a further document, ''On Organic Unity'', where he advocated the group fuse with that of

Ted Grant Edward Grant (born Isaac Blank; 9 July 1913 – 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He was a founding member of the group Militant and later Socialist Appeal. Early life Grant's father had s ...

, which led to his expulsion. Hillman then joined

Gerry Healy Thomas Gerard Healy (3 December 1913 – 14 December 1989) was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International and the leader of the Socialist Labour League and later the Workers Revolutionary Part ...

Club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

; however, he became a secret sympathiser of the Revolutionary Socialist League. Hillman went on to become the RSL's treasurer and a founder member of the

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

editorial board. In 1961, whilst a member of the RSL, Hillman wrote a guide for members who were elected to councils: ''Notes on Council Work''. In 1969, he volunteered to become President of the IFERS (International Flat Earth Research Society), created by the Dover-based Samuel Shenton, to prevent the Society from closing with the loss of important historical records it held. The same year, he was the founder and first president of the

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

Society. Hillman was elected in the

1958 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 16 April 1958. The council was elected by First Past the Post with each elector having three votes in the three-member seats. The Labour Party, who had already run the council for 24 ye ...

, representing Norwood, then in the 1961 election he moved to represent

Hackney Central Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England and is four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail areas to the north o ...

. He kept his seat when it became the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

until 1981 where he chaired the Arts and Recreation Committee. Hillman was elected to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

council in 1986 and when in 1994 it fell to a Lib–Lab alliance he was elected Mayor. His first act was to remove a bust of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

from

Hendon Town Hall Hendon Town hall is a municipal building in the Burroughs, Hendon, London. The town hall, which serves as a meeting place for Barnet London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History In the late 19th century the local board of heal ...

. He was the co-author in 1985, with journalist Richard Trench, of ''London Under London'', one of the first books to describe in detail the variety of hidden rivers, tunnels, bunkers, crypts and cellars under Britain's capital city. Hillman, who lived in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, died at the

London Chest Hospital The London Chest Hospital, located in Bethnal Green in London, adjacent to Victoria Park, London, Victoria Park, was a hospital with a national reputation for treatment of Heart, cardiac and Lung, pulmonary disease. Since 1999 it had been run by ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

in January 1996 whilst undergoing heart bypass surgery. He was married and had one son.

External links

Obituary in ''Revolutionary History''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillman, Ellis 1928 births 1996 deaths Members of the Greater London Council British Marxists British Trotskyists Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944) members Militant tendency supporters Members of London County Council